Like barcode and voice data entry, RFID is a contactless information acquisition technology. RFID systems are wireless, and are usually extremely effective in hostile environments where conventional acquisition methods fail. RFID has established itself in a wide range of markets, such as, for example, the high-speed reading of railway containers, tracking moving objects such as livestock or automobiles, and retail inventory applications. As such, RFID technology has become a primary focus in automated data collection, identification and analysis systems worldwide.
Of late, companies are increasingly embodying RFID data acquisition technology in a fob or tag for use in completing financial transactions. A typical fob may include a transponder and is ordinarily a self-contained device which may be contained on any portable form factor. In some instances, a battery may be included with the fob to power the transponder, in which case the internal circuitry of the fob (including the transponder) may draw its operating power from the battery power source. Alternatively, the fob may exist independent of an internal power source. In this instance the internal circuitry of the fob (including the transponder) may gain its operating power directly from a RF interrogation signal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,774, issued to Schuermann, describes a typical transponder RF interrogation system which may be found in the prior art. The Schuermann patent describes in general the powering technology surrounding conventional transponder structures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,328 discusses a method by which a conventional transponder may respond to a RF interrogation signal. Other typical modulation techniques which may be used include, for example, ISO/IEC 14443 and the like.
In the conventional fob powering technologies used, the fob is typically activated upon presenting the fob in an interrogation signal. In this regard, the fob may be activated irrespective of whether the user desires such activation. Inadvertent presentation of the fob may result in initiation and completion of an unwanted transaction. Thus, a fob system is needed which allows the fob user to control activation of the fob to limit transactions being undesirably completed.
One of the more visible uses of the RFID technology is found in the introduction of Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass® and Shell's EasyPay® products. These products use transponders placed in a fob or tag which enables automatic identification of the user when the fob is presented at a Point-of-sale (POS) device. Fob identification data is typically passed to a third party server database, where the identification data is referenced to a customer (e.g., user) credit or debit account. In an exemplary processing method, the server seeks authorization for the transaction by passing the transaction and account data to an authorizing entity. Once the server receives authorization, clearance is sent to the POS device for completion of the transaction. In this way, the conventional transaction processing method involves an indirect path which causes undue overhead due to the use of the third-party server.
It is desirable to maintain, for each fob held by a consumer, a substantially accurate history of transaction information and applications associated with the fob. Presently known systems are typically inadequate in this regard in that they do not provide efficient and reliable methods for ensuring synchronization between information stored on the fob and corresponding information stored on one or more external databases. As a result, present systems fail to ensure that lost or stolen fobs may be reissued or replaced with up-to-date information.
Moreover, present systems are inadequate in that the systems often do not allow an enterprise, such as a fob corporate partner (for example, Hertz, Hilton and the like) to dynamically add to or otherwise modify the fob application structure itself. That is, in the context of multi-function fobs, it is often infeasible to alter or augment the fob's file structure without engaging in the time-consuming and costly process of re-issuing the fob.
Furthermore, known methods of issuing and re-issuing fobs in a multi-application, multi-enterprise environment are typically inadequate. More particularly, a fob often contains a number of different applications associated with a wide range of enterprise organizations. For security purposes, the writing, updating, and reading of these files is advantageously restricted to particular parties in accordance with a set of access condition rules. These access conditions may be suitably implemented using cryptographic keys which are known only to the appropriate parties, such as the enterprise. Thus, a fob issuing party such as American Express will typically not have access to the keys to perform its function. Some of the known systems have attempted to solve this problem by accumulating key data in a central repository used in the issuance process. This method is often unsatisfactory in a number of respects. Most notably, a security breach in the central repository of key information may have disastrous consequences.
Techniques are therefore needed to overcome these and other limitations of the prior art. More specifically, systems are needed to provide secure and efficient personalization and dynamic synchronization of multi-function fobs.